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The Land of Nada 


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BONNIE SCOTLAND 

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BOSTON 

ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY 
Copley Square 



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Copyrighted, 1895, 

BY 

ARENA PUBLIS^'ING COMPANY. 


A U Rights Reserved. 




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DEDICATED TO 


MY NIECE 

A little life came down like “the rain into a fleece of 
wool ; even as the drops which water the earth.” And a 
sorrowful heart expanded at its coming, and the flower of 
love sprang up and was nourished by the sunshine of its 
smile. 



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THE LAND OP NADA. 


PAET I. 

Once upon a time, in a certain 
year when fashion decreed that 
women should wear very large 
full sleeves to their gowns, so 
large indeed that they were 
obliged to enter church doors 
sideways, and when the locusts 
which invaded the country in 
swarms had blood-red eyes, and 
upon their wings was engraved 
a W in deep black, there lived 
a king and queen in the Land 


6 


THE LAND OF NADA. 


of Nada. There were fairies in 
those days, and genii and gob- 
lins. It was a time the author 
remembers well, and he knows 
whereof he writes, and he testi- 
fies that which he records is 
true ; and he tells the story so 
that all the little people of the 
present day may enjoy the ac- 
count of the strange and wonder- 
ful Land of Nada, sometimes 
called el Pais de Carbon (the 
country of coal). 

Perhaps you may think it 
curious the author remembers 
so far back as genii and gob- 
lins and fairies, so he will con- 
fide to you a secret, if you’ll 
promise never to tell — not even 


THE LAND OF NADA. 


7 


your dearest friend. He lives 
all alone, with two hawks for 
companions, on an island in the 
Pacific, an island you can see on 
a clear day from Santa Monica 
on the Californian coast — an 
island not so very far from Cat- 
ilina. And the reason he lives 
alone is this : Long years ago, 
Strictum-taskum-trabajo, the 
genie, cut loose from the 
society of his people and came 
to this island, where he has 
lived ever since ; and as the tale 
proceeds you will find out why 
he was doomed to sucli a lonely 
life with only two hawks to 
cheer his solitude. 


8 


THE LAND OF NADA. 


The King and Queen of Nada 
were called King Whitcombo 
and Queen Haywarda. They 
came from an ancient family of 
kings and queens, and journeyed 
from a far country to take pos- 
session of the Land of Nada, 
being descended in a direct line 
from the kings who had always 
owned it. None of these mon- 
archs had ever lived there be- 
fore, but King Whitcombo and 
Queen Haywarda decided to 
leave the king’s brother reign- 
ing in the country where they 
had always lived, and thought 
they would see what could be 
done with the hitherto rather 
unknown Land of Nada. They 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 9 


had heard wonderful tales of its 
beauty and resources, so they 
came hither, and finding it 
goodly to look upon, and the 
warm, balmy climate suiting 
their taste so well, they decided 
to live there always. 

Now the land of their choice 
was enchanted. The most gor- 
geous fiowers sprang up from 
the soil and spread forth their 
lovely colored leaves in the sun- 
shine without any apparent care. 
There was no toil, and the daily 
duties of life seemed not to 
trouble anyone in the Land of 
Nada. In the Land of Nada 
there was scarcely any work to 
do ; all things were made easy 


10 THE LAND OF NADA. 


to accomplish ; and in conse- 
quence it was not necessary for 
the King and Queen to have a 
formal court. There were no 
ladies-in-waiting or gentlemen 
of high degree, or any of that 
sort of thing. The Queen’s 
gowns were made by fairies, and 
we all know that fairies combine 
taste and coloring even more 
artistically than Worth. The 
graceful cattle grazing in the 
meadows were watched over by 
fairies, and goblins performed 
the few menial offices of the 
court. They were black creat- 
ures, of course, but then one 
soon became accustomed to that. 
It was perfectly natural, for gob- 


THE LAND OF NADA. 11 


lins live underground, and this 
was el Pais de Carbon (the 
country of coal). The earth 
was fairly great with treasure, 
as the coal mines extended for 
miles underground ; and one 
could hardly expect to find 
white goblins among so much 
black dust. 

The cows gave different kinds 
of milk to suit the taste of 
everyone. When King Whit- 
comho, for instance, desired a 
glass of buttermilk, he sent a 
goblin servant to the meadow 
where the cattle were grazing. 
As black Ingram approached 
a pale- white milch cow named 
Seafoam, he placed a golden 


12 THE LAND OF KADA. 


jar underneath her upon the 
ground, and repeated these 
words ; 

Gentle Seafoam, soft as silk, 

Give the King thy buttermilk. 


At these magic lines, Seafoam, 
turning her head and looking 
at Ingram with large, gentle 
eyes, poured a stream of frothy 
buttermilk into the jar. 

Now when Queen Haywarda 
wished a glass of fresh sweet 
milk, she sent her goblin serv- 
ant, whose name was Babe, 
out to the meadow where stood 
Clover, a splendid creature of 
a pure cream-white color from 
the end of her nose to the 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 13 


tip of her tail. And the black 
servant, approaching, placed a 
golden jar underneath Clover 
on the ground, saying : 

Softly, Clover ; Clover, stand ; 

Give down milk at the Queen’s com- 
mand. 

When Clover heard these ap- 
parently simple words, she, in 
her turn, poured a stream of 
rich milk into the jar. 

If the Queen wished cream for 
the table she sent Babe out to 
Cowslip, the yellow cow, and 
Babe, approaching, and plac- 
ing her golden jar down on the 
ground, cried aloud : 

Cowslip, Cowslip, lovely dream, 
Give our table richest cream, 


14 THE LAND OF NADA. 


^ At these magic words, Cow- 
slip, lifting her graceful head, 
poured a stream of thick cream 
into the jar, rich and yellow, the 
very color of the jar itself, and 
Babe, placing the golden jar 
with its golden contents upon 
her black head, walked back 
through the long grass to where 
her Queen sat waiting. 

Now, as there will always be 
to the end of time some unfor- 
tunate people in the world who 
never have anything but 
skimmed milk to drink, a pale- 
blue cow stood in the meadow, 
amidst dainty waving bluebells, 
and she provided the required 
article. She was a slight, sylph- 


THE LAND OF NADA. 15 


like creature, bearing the name 
of Harebell. When Harebell 
poured a stream of milk into the 
jar, her pale-blue body seemed 
reflected round the rim, giving 
the milk an extremely delicate 
coloring. This was the song 
Ingram sang to Harebell when 
the King ordered him to pay 
her a visit : 

Thou very aesthetic, 

The King bade me fetch it; 

And thou must give down 
What we send into town. 


From which may be inferred 
that there was a city near the 
Land of Nada, sharing the fate 
of all other cities, as the inhabit- 


16 THE LAND OF NADA. 

ants never had anything but 
blue cow’s milk to drink. 

A more wonderful cow than 
all the others, which delighted 
children and grown people alike, 
lived in the enchanted Land of 
Nada. Her name was Gillia, 
and her body was a pale pink, 
the color of crushed straw- 
berries. She had a yellow tail 
and horns of gold. Gillia stood 
all day long with her feet in a 
low-murmuring stream which 
flowed through the meadow. 
A magniflcent oak tree cast 
its protecting shade over the 
cool, shadowy spot. Gillia gave 
yum -yum” ice-cream flavored 
with strawberries ; but as many 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 17 


people prefer vanilla flavoring, 
there was a golden jar placed 
at her side containing vanilla 
beans. When anyone wished 
vanilla instead of strawberry, 
Gillia eat a bean, then waited 
thirty seconds and gave down 
vanilla cream. A jar of lemons 
also stood near ready for Gillia, 
in case any one wished lemon 
cream. A fountain gushed 
from a rock above Gillia’s head 
on the bank ; a golden cup fas- 
tened to a golden chain hung 
from the rock, and above the 
fountain, cut into the stone in 
clear, large letters, was a sign. 

Soda Water. 


2 


18 THE LAND OF NADA. 


If anyone wished it mixed 
with cream, why there was 
Gillia standing near. The pale 
crushed-strawberry cow had her 
verse as well as the others, and 
Babe sang it forth in a rich, 
mellow voice when she came to 
the winding creek : 

Standing in thy shady nook, 

While the music of the brook, 

Ever singing on its way, 

Cheers thy heart from day to day. 
Give us of thy frozen cream, 

Gillia, Gillia, for the Queen I 

There were many fairy-bred 
horses in the Land of Nada 
owned by King Whitcomho, and 
they all wore enchanted shoes. 


THE LAND OF NADA. 19 


By. means of these shoes they 
could travel at a goblin ostrich’s 
speed. At night Ingram led 
them to a large stable and fas- 
tened them securely in their 
stalls, while a guard of goblins 
on night duty kept watch for 
fear they might be stolen. 

The buildings in the court of 
King Whitcombo and Queen 
Haywarda were very different 
from the castles of other kings 
and queens. You must remem- 
ber that I told you this was a 
new country, this Land of Nada, 
and when King Whitcombo and 
his dainty spouse. Queen Hay- 
warda, arrived here, their goblin 
servants, who already inhabited 


20 THE LAND OF NADA. 

the country, hastily put up tem- 
porary dwellings, until stone 
castles befitting their rank and 
dignity could he built. 

Thus it happened that the 
noble steeds with their enchanted 
shoes of gold were sheltered in a 
frame stable. It was four hun- 
dred feet long and two hundred 
feet wide, and it certainly seemed 
like a very comfortable, airy 
place, although not elegant, of 
course. Another stable of the 
same size was erected for the 
valuable cows, of which you 
have read. 

Now the black goblins hastily 
ran up a third stable, about half 
the size of the others, which was 


THE LAKD OF KADA. 21 


intended for cattle also, some 
large and strong oxen owned by 
the King. But the King and 
Queen found it necessary to 
have this finished off roughly 
for themselves while waiting 
for their spacious castles to be 
built. They made it quite com- 
fortable, however, and wher- 
ever Queen Haywarda dwelt 
there lingered a certain air of 
elegance and daintiness. Still it 
was a stable — just think of a 
King and Queen living in such 
a place ! It only shows what 
can be done in new countries 
where people are quite independ- 
ent of custom and fashion, at 
least for a time anyway. 


22 THE LAND OF NADA. 


And you never in all your life 
beheld a happier or a bonnier 
pair than these two. Queen 
Hay warda was intensely excited 
over the strange and inter- 
esting objects by which they 
were surrounded. She took a 
positive delight in such homely 
things as chickens and eggs ; 
but then, I’m sure you never 
saw the kind of chickens which 
grew in the land of Nada. The 
hens were of different colors, and 
each remained in her own set. 
This is the reason that when 
they wished to sit they fell into 
the way of calling it set, be- 
cause they were so particular 
about going outside of their 


THE LAND OF NADA. 


23 


own circle. Their coloring was 
gorgeous and dazzling to the 
eye. When Queen Haywarda 
first looked upon them, she 
could not refrain from clapping 
her hands and saying : 

“Oh, ain ems tunnin ! 
They’re awfully cute ! ain ems 
sweet ! ” 

And the grave and dignified 
King Whitcombo mildly an- 
wered : 

‘ ^ Awful, my love ? I don’t 
see anything so awful about 
them.” 

Now, in the chickens of the 
Land of Nada there shone forth 
all the vivid hues of the rainbow, 
with the variegated shadings of 


24 THE LAND OF NADA. 


each — violet, dark-blue, light- 
blue, green, yellow, orange, and 
red. Every prismatic color 
walked by itself, marching in 
a body like a company of 
soldiers. The violet set were 
drilled by a violet rooster pacing 
at their side. They moved in 
long lines, one behind another, 
the front file being of deepest 
purple, and the intervening lines 
shading off to a lighter color, 
until hens with feathers of palest 
lavender brought up the rear. 
Imagine what a beautiful sight ! 
A regular full-dress parade, as it 
were, with the various blendings 
of blue, yellow, red, and other 
shades, being drilled by gay and 


THE LAND OF NADA. 25 

martial roosters of the same 
hue as the divisions of which 
they had charge. The cocks all 
crowed together for a bugle 
call, then each one formed his 
ctompany and they were put 
through a manual of arms by 
the cock of the day, who, stand- 
ing off just so many paces, 
and swelling out his breast- 
feathers till it seemed as if he 
might burst, crowed out orders 
which sounded like this : 

Huh, ah humps ! ! ! ! ! 

Huh, huh, ah . . humps ! ! ! ! ! 

Huh, huh, ha . . humps ! ! ! ! ! 

A band of small pullets, in 
advance, of different colors to 
match their divisions, kept time 


26 THE LAND OF NADA. 

when they marched to the music 
of Tuck-tuck-tuck-tuck-ka-da- 
kuck.” In front of them a ma- 
jestic rooster, with a shako on 
his topknot, hopped upon one 
foot, holding a golden baton in 
his other foot. His feathers were 
composed of the seven prismatic 
colors laced together with gold 
cord, and on his ruffled breast 
was distinctly traced in letters of 
gold, D. M.”, which stands 
for delightful music. Every 
spring, for two weeks before 
Easter, the hens each laid three 
eggs a day, the color of their 
feathers. So the city near the 
Land of Nada was well supplied 
with Easter eggs, and the gob- 


THE LAND OF NADA. 27 


lins above ground could hand 
down colored eggs by the dozen 
to their relatives underground 
for an Easter treat. 

The trees growing in Nada 
Land, especially within the 
grounds occupied by King Whit- 
combo and Queen Haywarda, 
were bewildering in variety. 
There were at least two hun- 
dred different kinds, forming 
a vast breadth and wealth of 
sloping orchards and shady 
groves. 

One strangely curious tree 
stood in the centre of the garden, 
having a pyramidal trunk. On 
each of the three sides the fruit 
was a different color. Facing 


28 THE LAND OF KADA. 


the south hung lemons of deep- 
est yellow ; on the north the 
round balls of fruit shaded into 
a light yellow ; and toward the 
west they grew of a piquant pink. 
In the trunk were fastened three 
golden faucets ; beneath the 
boughs of rich yellow fruit was 
inscribed in letters of gold, 
Lemonade.” Under the pale 
lemons the inscription over the 
faucet read, Picnic Lemon- 
ade.” And where pink lemons 
turned blushing cheeks to the 
setting sun, there was still a 
third sign, Circus Lemonade.” 
A curious grafted branch pro- 
jected amongst this latter color, 
loaded down with peanuts. And 


THE LAND OF NADA. 29 


although in some countries, pea- 
nuts grow in the g;*ound like 
potatoes, still in Nada Land it 
seemed fitting and appropriate 
to have them conveniently ready 
to serve with circus lemonade. 
So, you see, everyone could be 
suited in the Land of N ada. And 
a lemonade tree saved a great 
deal of fussing with lemon 
squeezers and sugar. 

But the most peculiarly no- 
other-land tree, resembling an 
oak more than anything else, 
swayed its branches against 
the stable which the King 
and Queen used for a house. 
It was called a genealogical 
tree, and the roots had spread 


30 THE LAND OF NADA. 

underground and sprung up 
from an old family branch 
they left behind them in the 
country of their birth. There 
were the most curious notches 
in the boughs, which formed 
seats like swinging chairs for 
the members of the family who 
lived in the Land of Nada. 
There were three of these seats, 
one for King Whitcombo, an- 
other for Queen Haywarda, and 
the third for their only son 
Prince Trueheart. He was a 
lad of fourteen, and, sad to re- 
late, was blind. The genealog- 
ical tree grew in front of a 
window in the Queen’s room, 
and she could step from the 


THE LAND OF NADA. 31 

broad window-sill and seat her- 
self in the notch formed for her 
express use. 

She and the King and Prince 
Trueheart often remained there 
together for hours, rocking 
among the leafy branches with 
the motion of the wind. King 
Whitcombo and Queen Hay- 
warda, looking down upon the 
flowers and brilliant fowls and 
cattle in the meadow and the 
horses in the fleld, would tell the 
Prince what they saw. True- 
heart, in his turn, delighted his 
parents by discoursing sweet 
music on a violin, which had 
been given to him at his birth 
by a fairy. 


32 THE LAND OF NADA. 

As the soft strains from this 
little magic instrument floated 
through the air, the very birds 
paused to listen and ceased their 
carols. When he rested, the 
mocking-birds gayly took up 
the song, warbling parts of the 
exquisite harmony ; while the 
robins and blue- jays, meadow 
larks, thrushes, and wrens be- 
came so entranced with his 
rendering of Mendelssohn’s 
most famous concerto, that they 
hushed their little liquid babble, 
turning their tiny heads side- 
ways to listen. The mocking- 
birds that perched in the genea- 
logical tree beneath Queen Hay- 
warda’s window often sang to 


THE LAND OF NADA. 33 

their mates at midnight, in a 
perfect frenzy of joy, that part 
of the concerto where the music 
swells and deepens, sounding 
like a chorus of sweet-toned in- 
struments crying out their rap- 
ture over some strange delight. 

Prince Trueheart slept with 
the violin by his side and car- 
ried it about by day. The 
fairy who presented it had en- 
dowed him with the gift of en- 
thralling those who listened by 
the witchery of his harmonies. 
And while he played, his audi- 
ence, absorbed and breath- 
less, felt sudden wild thrills, 
followed by little throbs and 
rills running down their backs 
3 


34 THE LAND OF NADA. 

and over all the tiny nerves 
of the body ; and these exul- 
tant thrills became so ecstatic 
that they trickled and dropped 
off in round beads of gold. 
Now this is the reason there 
were so many golden vessels 
in the Land of Nada ; heads 
of gold, dispersed as lightly as 
a dog shakes off water, were 
swept up by the goblin servants 
daily, and made into all sorts of 
beautiful things. 

Oranges, bananas, cherries, 
peaches, plums, and apricots 
grew in this enchanted gar- 
den, besides all other . fruits 
that you ever heard of. It was 
very easy to can and preserve in 


THE LAND OF NADA. 35 

Nada Land. Every fall Ingram 
and Babe walked from tree to 
tree, trundling a wheelbarrow- 
ful of jars and glasses. Babe 
carried a long golden spoon in 
her hand, and opening a little 
trapdoor in the trunk of each 
tree, and reaching down with the 
long golden spoon, she brought 
up the preserves and jellies 
already prepared for the glass 
cans. The marmalade from the 
orange trees was peculiarly deli- 
cious, with a fine pungent fiavor, 
and Prince Trueheart liked it 
on bread and butter as well as 
children of the present day do. 

But how was butter made in 
the Land of Nada ? With very 


36 THE LAND OF NADA. 

little trouble, you may be sure. 
Down in the meadow where the 
brook twinkled and laughed 
in the sunlight, there was one 
more Nada Land cow which has 
not been described. Y on remem- 
ber that Gillia, the ice-cream 
cow, stood under the shade of an 
oak. Now Buttercup, the butter 
cow, was always to be found 
under the heavy foliage of a 
magnolia tree. A see-saw had 
been built there, the support 
being placed in the middle of 
the stream, and the long plank 
reaching across it from bank to 
bank. In the centre of the see- 
saw Buttercup stood upon the 
plank, acting as candlestick ; 


THE LAND OF NADA. 37 

and the children could sit on 
each end and teeter by the hour. 
It was a pretty picture to watch 
Babe coming through the high 
meadow grass toward the brook, 
which sparkled fresh and abun- 
dant from deep wellsprings of the 
hillside and, rounding suddenly, 
“ hid its merry laughter ’’ in the 
clover blossoms. Babe sang as 
she came, in a clear, high treble, 
the goblins’ song for the butter 
cow : 


Buttercup, Buttercup, with thy gleeful 
see-saw chancing. 

Listening to the tinkling water o’er the 
pebbles dancing. 

Always in a flutter, 

Thou yellow cup of butter, 


38 THE LAND OF NADA. 

The winds are soft, and clouds aloft are 
chasing one another. 

So cease thy brightest blinkings sweet, 
thy noisy teeter smother. 

And give us nice roimd yellow rolls 
for love of Trueheart’s mother. 

At this song Buttercup 
balanced herself and stood per- 
fectly quiet, while suddenly a 
small door, made of finely laced 
bones, flew open in her side, and 
a little black goblin popped out, 
calling in birdlike tones, ‘ ‘ Cusha- 
cusha-cusha.’’ He held in each 
hand a half-pound roll of golden 
butter, stamped with a spray of 
buttercups ; and this explains 
why, down to the present day, 
children are always so fond of 


THE LAND OF NADA. 39 

gob’lin(g) butter. Babe never 
wore shoes or stockings, so she 
waded in the brook, and took 
the rolls the little black goblin 
held out. 

The Land of Nada was shut 
off from the country surround- 
ing it by seven iron gates, as 
tall as pine trees and wide as an 
ocean steamer is long from stem 
to stern. 

The outer gate was guarded 
by a monster genie larger than 
a lion, with a wide-open mouth 
grinning under a flat nose, and 
teeth standing straight out like 
a row of bristling black spikes. 
His bright scarlet ears, where 
they fastened to the head, were 


40 THE LAND OF NADA. 

as big as barrels, but sloped out 
to a funnel point at the ends. 
His black face and neck were 
covered with long white hair, 
and a shapeless angry cloud 
formed his body. Forth from 
this muffled darkness stuck out 
eight feet with hoofs. His arms 
resembled bats’ wings, and went 
flapping, flapping, to and fro, 
when he heard anyone ap- 
proaching ; and he accompanied 
this motion by fearful roars. 
This genie had the power of 
making himself visible or in- 
visible at will, and he bore 
the name of Donburroassikey- 
mulum. When he screamed 
the earth shook with the tre- 


THE LAND OF NADA. 41 

mendous sound ; and it was 
Donburroassikeymulum’s duty, 
when strangers desired entrance 
to Nada Land, to send forth a 
warning cry, which the guardi- 
ans of the other six gates caught 
up and repeated. 

These entrances were a half 
mile apart. At the second one 
a pair of large hawks perched 
upon each post. They were 
larger than eagles, with brown 
bodies and heads, and flecked 
with fluffy white feathers under- 
neath the wings. Their beaks 
were long and hooked, and just 
above them was a small yellow 
patch, which perfectly matched 
their toes. 


42 THE LAND OF NADA. 

At the third gate a crow sat 
upon the right-hand pillar. He 
wore a black cravat and high 
white collar, and spectacles upon 
his nose, and conducted himself 
like a gentleman, sometimes 
reading the newspaper, and 
sometimes smoking a cigarette. 

Over the fourth gate was 
arranged a bar, from which a 
large opossum swung by her 
tail. She had eight young ones, 
that generally hid themselves 
within an expansive pouch she 
carried under her stomach ; but 
often the whole eight of them 
hung by their little tails from 
their mother’s neck or feet, or 
any other place around which 


THE LAND OF NADA. 


43 


they could wrap their strong 
appendages, never for a moment 
leaving the protection of her 
body, and hastening into the 
pouch at the slightest noise, 
whence they peeped out, for all 
the world like the old woman’s 
children who lived in a shoe. 

At the fifth gate two sleek, 
fat puppies sat on either side, 
one white with black spots, 
the other a curly brown with 
white markings. The former 
bore the name of Biscuit, be- 
cause he was the next best thing 
to thoroughbre(a)d. The latter 
was called Ivy, on account of 
needing so much training ; he 
kept continually falling off the 


44 THE LAND OF NADA. 

post, and had to be dusted and 
put back again by the genie, 
who could stretch out his arms 
more than seven miles on an 
emergency. 

Stationed at the sixth gate 
were a pair of spangled mock- 
ing-birds, who, when the warn- 
ing call came from the genie, 
closely imitated all the noises 
made at the other entrances to 
Nada Land. 

And now we come to the last 
one of all, number seven. And 
here an innocent-looking stone 
jar stood upon the left pillar, 
shaped like a vase with an ear 
or spout broken off at one side. 
It was one of Queen Haywarda’s 


THE LAND OF NADA. 45 

wedding presents, and it had 
met with an accident on the 
long journey to the Land of 
Nada. When King Whitcombo 
first saw this vase resting upon 
the gatepost, he remarked in 
his usual grave fashion to Hay- 
warda : 

Now, my dear love and 
Queen, will you please inform 
me how a stone jar can possibly 
protect a gate ? ” 

Haywarda glanced up with 
her deep-brown eyes dancing, 
and replied archly, as she cast 
them down again with a de- 
mure expression : 

0 King ! thou knowest that 
I never wished these iron bars 


46 THE LAND OF NADA. 

locked against our neighbors, 
but thou hast so kindly allowed 
me the privilege of having all 
other matters my own way, 
that I could not but yield to 
one so wise and just. I placed 
that stone jar there where I 
could always gaze upon it and 
fancy that all the seven gates 
to Nada Land were ajar. It is 
enchanted, 0 King ! and col- 
lects within its hollow interior 
the sounds given forth by the 
guardians of our other six 
gates, and when filled with 
echoes suddenly bursts, with a 
noise as of thunder, into a thou- 
sand pieces ; these fine frag- 
ments are connected at the neck 


THE LAND OF NADA, 47 

of the jar and quickly fly to- 
gether again with another loud 
crash as they unite. Thus, you 
perceive, it binds all our forces 
together in the bonds of brother- 
ly union, wherein lie strength 
and power ; for all the contents 
must abide together for a time 
and mix into fine tenderness.’’ 

Now nothing could be lovelier 
than the way Haywarda raised 
her eyes except her way of drop- 
ping them, and the King, be- 
holding her rich beauty, rubbed 
his hands together, answering 
hurriedly: ‘‘I see, I see, my 
dear ; I see clearly ! ” although 
he didn’t see at all. 

A genie, who was the servant 


48 THE LAND OF NADA. 

of the lemon tree, had charge of 
the underground goblins. His 
name was Strictum-taskum-tra- 
bajo. Once a year he retired to 
a certain place near a cliff and 
opened a trapdoor of stone, sunk 
into the ground, allowing twelve 
black goblins to come up, one for 
every month in the year. Still 
there remained thousands, im- 
prisoned in those dark vaulted 
chambers, employed in the mo- 
notonous task of forming blocks 
of coal — just as a nation in 
bondage, long years agone, were 
obliged to make brick. Strict- 
um-taskum-trabajo was formed 
like a man, with two sets of eyes, 
as large as saucers, in the front 


THE LAND OF NADA. 49 

and back of his perfectly bald 
head, which was as big as a 
washtub. He towered as high 
as a house, and was colored a 
light blue from top to toe, from 
being so much exposed to the 
reflection of blue flames under- 
ground. And this is the reason, 
down to the present day, we 
hear so much about gob(e)lin 
blue. Strictum-taskum-trabajo 
was girt with a green loin-cloth 
over his naked body, and his 
eyes were living coals sending 
out flashes of Are. And, oh ! 
’tis a sorry tale to tell, but he 
had one (tail), just as black and 
leathery as a rat’s ; and instead 
of feet with toes, Strictum-task- 
4 


50 THE LAND OF NAD A. 

um-trabajo wore cloven hoofs. 
Altogether he was a “ bad un ; ” 
and as the gay lemon tree, 
whose servant he was, cared for 
nothing in the world but lemon- 
ade and flouting her boughs of 
bright yellow, and pale yellow, 
and pink balls of fruit, and 
grafted peanuts, and three-sided 
trunk before the gaze of the 
world, she made the goblins’ 
life one long misery and toil. 

Two of the liberated goblins. 
Aunt Mat and Little Mat, lived 
near the genie, in a dwelling dug 
out of the cliff, a room with dirt 
walls and floor, and a small 
round opening for a door. Aunt 
Mattie did the court washing.. 


THE LAND OF NADA. 51 

The fairies made silk garments 
for-the court, and spun them so 
soft and fine that they seemed 
no trouble at all to cleanse. 
Moreover, the roguish, laughing 
brook helped with this work. 
Aunt Mat and Little Mat, tuck- 
ing up their scanty skirts, waded 
in the stream, and laid the 
clothes upon crystal rocks. 
Then the impish, giggling water 
flung itself over and over again 
upon these fine fabrics, the sun 
lending its aid with gentle 
warmth, and lo ! they soon be- 
came as white as sea-foam. 
Cowslip, Buttercup, Harebell, 
Gillia, and all the other cows 
watched Mattie and Little Mat, 


52 THE LAND OF NADA. 

as they spread out the dainty 
garments, taking them from a 
golden basket. Then the fleet- 
footed coal-black and snow- 
white horses galloped to and 
fro, neighing and tossing their 
manes ; and their enchanted 
shoes of gold glinted with a 
thousand different colors in the 
sunlight. 

It was the lemon tree that 
caused all the trouble which be- 
fell the Court of Nada Land. 
Strictum-taskum-trabajo visited 
her at night, and they plotted 
mischief in the moonlight. She 
whispered to the hawks who lit 
in her branches one day, that 
Strictum-taskum-trabajo had 


THE LAND OF NADA. 53 

something good to eat for them 
— One hundred delicious dead 
mice, all nicely skinned and ready 
to swallow at a gulp.’’ 

And thus it came to pass that 
the genie and hawks brought 
serious trouble to King Whit- 
combo and Queen Haywarda. 

Now Donburroassikeymulum, 
although so dreadfully hideous, 
never could harm anyone. He 
was the servant of the genealog- 
ical tree, a tree which thought 
only of the comfort and welfare 
of others, and giving pleasure 
and happiness to all around her. 
Donburroassikeymulum had a 
gentle heart and adored children, 
and often gave them a ride on 


54 THE LAND OF NAD A. 

his back up in the air. He flut- 
tered down, flapping his bat- 
like wings, while they bestrode 
his misty, cloudy back, which 
seemed as soft as a bag of 
feathers. The Don spread his 
wings, kicked out his eight feet 
with hoofs, then roared with de- 
light and shook his cloudy sides 
out and in, so that the children 
had to hold on fast to the long 
white hair which fell over his 
neck, and dig their fat, dimpled 
knees into his soft sides, in order 
to keep from falling off. 

But Donburroassikeymulum 
could not prevent the trouble 
which was coming by and by to 
the court, because this was the 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 55 

year that the locusts were 
marked with a black W and had 
eyes of blood. “Woe — woe — 
woe ! ’’ the locusts cried. But 
before the trouble came, great 
joy filled the court of King 
Whitcombo and Queen Hay- 
warda, and this must be related 
first. 

Now it was the time of year 
when winds were low and the 
clouds hung lightly in the sky, 
and, marshalling themselves in 
softest rows, floated toward 
the moon to catch the silver 
sweetness of her smile. Queen 
Hay warda seemed languid these 
long, warm days. She sat most 
of the time in her notch within 


66 THE LAND OF NADA. 

the boughs of the genealogical 
tree watching the children below 
at play. Prince Trueheart’s cous- 
ins often came for long visits, 
because his Queen-Mamma loved 
above all things the happy 
voices of children. There was 
Arthur, the young Prince of Al- 
gunaLand, a country adjoining 
el Pais de Carbon (the land of 
coal), and the little Prince and 
Princesses of el Pais de Leche 
(milk land). The latter were 
wee Prince Knee-baby, four 
years old, and his two sisters. 
Princesses Helen and Wimpsy, 
six and seven years of age. 

The children often stopped in 
their play to look up in the tree 


THE LAND OF NADA. ' 57 

at Queen Haywarda, she was so 
beautiful sitting there like a 
warm painting of the Madonna. 
There was the kind look coming 
so sweetly from the warm, gentle 
heart ; and then her most ex- 
pressive brown eyes — was there 
anything like them in all the 
world ? And, oh ! what hair ! 
so silky and so rich and full 
of sunbeam dances to the music 
of her laugh. Everyone loved 
Queen Haywarda, she had such 
a way of divining what was in 
other people’s minds and acting 
upon the knowledge with rare 
sympathy. 

At the close of these long 
soft days, she walked with 


58 THE LAND OF NADA. 

Prince Trueheart, leaning upon 
his arm, with her dreamy eyes 
looking far away. 

“ Mamma,” Prince Trueheart 
said, ‘‘what are you thinking 
about ? ” 

“ Nothing,” she replied, with 
a soft blush, glancing up at the 
genealogical tree and then look- 
ing down again. 

“Now, mamma,” Prince 
Trueheart said quickly, “will 
you promise to answer all I ask 
you ? ” 

“I don’t know,” she sighed 
faintly, with that beautiful far- 
away look coming again into 
her face. 

And once more, as the children 


THE LAND OF NADA. 59 

looked, they felt that lovely was 
the only word to be used at all 
about Haywarda. 

Mamma,” cried Prince 
Trueheart, the second time, 

‘ ‘ tell me what you see ? ” 

I see bowers of hop and of 
honeysuckle, flowering trees and 
shrubs, rambling roses, wealth 
of boundless orchards, and vast 
greatness of wheat.” 

“Yes, sweetheart,” replied 
the Prince, laughing, “ but what 
do you see in the genealogical 
tree ? Do you know, dear mam- 
ma, Princess Helen tells me that 
every day it grows plainer and 
plainer, and that it is as clear as 
noonday that another notch has 


60 THE LAND OF NADA. 

formed in the tree, and instead 
of chairs like ours, a cradle has 
grown there. Is it true, mam- 
ma 

“Yes,” she whispered faint- 

ly- 

“ And, mamma, we want to 
know what it means. Only to- 
day Princess Helen said it was 
all trimmed up with clusters of 
bluebells, and babies’-breath, and 
think-of-mes.” * 

‘‘Perhaps,” his mother an- 
swered, “ it is prepared for your 
little cousin. Princess Elsie, who 
is coming soon with her mamma 
for a visit.” 

“ Is she ? ” cried Prince True- 

* “ Think-of-mes,” i.e., forget-me-nots. 


THE LAND OF NADA. 61 

heart delightedly. “When do 
you think she will come ? ” 

“ Pretty soon ; any day al- 
most,” whispered Haywarda, 
with her head drooping like a 
lily. 

At this very moment the 
flowers down in the meadow 
were stretching up their little 
heads and nodding at each other 
and saying : “ Look ! look ! do 
you see that strange thing up in 
the genealogical tree ? What 
have the fairies been gathering 
so many babies’-breath and 
think- of -mes and bluebells for, 
and decking the cradle swinging 
there among its boughs ? Tell 
us, dainty cliff-roses, you grow 


62 THE LAND OF NADA. 

higher up than we, what do you 
know about it ? 

^^Why,” replied a charming 
yellow cliff-rose, I saw the 
fairies working this whole after- 
noon ; they wove a canopy over 
the cradle out of babies’-breath, 
tied with bows of think-of-mes, 
and padded it within and with- 
out with bluebells. Then they 
flew into an open window of 
the Queen’s room, and I could 
see them arranging bunches of 
columbine around Haywarda’s 
bed and upon the mantel and 
over the walls, so that it looked 
like a bower of blue-and-white 
beauty.” 

‘‘Ah!” said a pink sweet- 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 63 

pea, with the blush of a downy 
peach, ‘‘I’ve always heard that 
blue * is true, hut that doesn’t 
explain anything.” 

“But don’t you know,” cried 
sturdy little ragged Eobin, look- 
ing up at Sweet-pea proudly, 
“ pink is for ladies, and blue is 
for babies f ” 

“ Did you say babies asked 
a wood anemone, lifting its 
modest, wee face. “ Wouldn’t 
it be lovely if a Princess baby 
slept in that cradle, and some da}^ 
came with pattering footsteps 
down here in the meadow to 
play with us ? ” 

“How we should kiss her dear 


64 THE LAND OF NAD A. 

little dimpled knees,” cried the 
lupins eagerly. 

‘‘Yes, and make wreaths for 
her sun-hat, ” said a bright daisy 
quickly. 

“And loop the sleeves of her 
gowns,” suggested the wild 
rose. 

“Oh ! but you couldn’t do 
that,” responded the painter’s 
brush, with some heat ; “ don’t 
you know blue is for babies ; 
thafs for the harebells to do. ” ' 

“ Never mind,” called the del- 
icate pink Indian currants ; 
“we’ll find something to do for 
our Princess if we have one. 
Just wait until she’s a young 
lady and presented at court ; we 


THE LAND OF NADA. 65 

can trim her gowns, all of us 
pink flowers, then.” 

‘‘Well, I call this counting 
your chickens before they’re 
hatched,” a grave penstemon 
announced. ‘ ‘ Don’t you see the 
sun going down over that hill in 
a golden ball ; it’s time we all 
went to sleep, pretty children, 
and to-morrow will show what 
that cradle’s for.” 

“Kiss me good-night,” mur- 
mured the little flax, sleepily, to 
a tall rosy poppy. 

And then, as the glowing sun 
went down in the brightest azure 
of all blue skies, “a hush of 
wonder and of waiting fell and 
lay upon all the scene.” 

5 


66 THE LAND OF NADA. 

It was midnight, and the 
flowers were slumbering softly, 
when suddenly a troop of bright 
fairies came dancing lightly 
through the meadow in the sil- 
very moonlight. 

‘‘Flowers, flowers, awake!” 
cried the Fairy Queen, waving 
her wand. 

And the drowsy flowers, rous- 
ing from their dewy nap, with 
one accord made obeisance. As 
they did so, a glowing radiance 
shone over all the land. The 
trembling flowers, nodding their 
little heads, looked up and saw, 
hovering above the stable where- 
in dwelt King Whitcombo and 
Queen Haywarda, a band of 


THE LAND OF NADA. 67 

bright angels ; and while still 
dazed and wondering, they be- 
held one little blue-eyed darling 
flutter downward — down, down, 
down — until the soft, white- 
robed form nestled within the 
cradle rocking there in the 
boughs of the genealogical tree. 

Then the Fairy Queen ad- 
dressed the amazed, bewildered 
flowers : 

“Sing a song of welcome, 0 
children ! for our baby Princess 
has at last arrived.” 

So they opened their tiny 
mouths, and Ailing the air with 
delicious, tinkling melody, sang : 

Rejoice, O flowers, shout and sing, 

And far upon the breezes fling 


68 THE LAND OF NADA. 


Sweet perfume rare. To us is born 
The babe whose cradle we adorn. 

The graceful bluebells, think-of-mes, 
And babies’-breath, intent to please. 

Have decked the bed where sleeping lies 
That gift from fragrant Paradise, 

An infant daughter. O sweet rose. 

May on her cheeks thy blush repose. 

And thou fair sister, lily tall. 

On her may thy white mantle fall. 
Within her eyes reflected be 
Thy deepest azure, think-of-me. 

Dear babies’-breath, we recognize 
Thy fragrance in her very sighs. 

And ye cliff-roses over there. 

Shed golden luster on her hair. 

All glinting with the sun’s caress 
In tangled waves of gracefulness. 

O Fairy Queen, we crave from thee, 

All beauties for sweet Dorothy. 


The last notes of the flowers’ 


THE LAND OP NAD A. 69 

song had scarcely died away 
before a window in Queen Hay- 
warda’s chamber opened, and 
the grave, dignified King Whit- 
combo stepped out upon its broad 
sill. His face seemed trans- 
figured in the pure moonlight, 
as, with the proudest, happiest 
smile that ever dwelt upon the 
face of mortal man, he reached 
down and, lifting Princess Dor- 
othy within the strong, pro- 
tecting embrace of his kingly 
arms, turned and stepped gently 
back into Queen Haywarda’s 
room. Never, never, can the 
flowers forget that scene. The 
moon streamed a broad path of 
light within, and through the 


70 THE LAND OF NAD A. 

window they beheld Queen Hay- 
warda lying upon the bed, 
stretching out her arms with 
such a look of heavenly joy, 
that the soft moon’s radiance 
cast a halo of brightest glory 
around her head. 


THE LAND OF NADA. 71 


PAET II. 

These were indeed happy days 
of rejoicing in the court. Kings 
and queens from adjoining 
countries came to pay their re- 
spects to Queen Haywarda and 
her daughter Princess Dorothy. 
Fairies and goblins from far 
and near trooped to the spot, 
and proud were Ingram and 
Babe to usher in these visitors. 

The first time that Aunt Mat 
came to wash after Dorothy’s 
birth, Babe brought her up- 
stairs to see the infant Princess. 
Aunt Mat tiptoed into the room 


72 THE LAND OF NADA. 

where Dorothy and her mother 
lay. The fairies had woven a 
blue-silk robe for the Queen- 
Mother, and everything in the 
room was trimmed with fragile, 
fragant blue-and-white colum- 
bine. 

‘‘ Miss Ha3rwarda, honey,” 
Aunt Mat said, falling on her 
knees by the bed, ’pears like 
dis yere baby’s a plum cur’osity 
to eberybody. She’s mighty 
lit’le chile. Laws, honey, when 
my Mat was bo’n she dun weigh 
twelve poun’ ; yessum, she did 
fo’ sho’ ; an right now Mat kin 
stan’ flat-footed an’ lick de salt 
off de top ob my head. She’s 
a monst’ous chile.” 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 73 

It was not long before the 
Queen-Mother and her Prin- 
cess daughter swayed among 
the branches of their genealogi- 
cal tree. Day after day the 
cradle rocked dainty Dorothy, 
and she grew apace. Prince 
Trueheart, with his violin, 
played sweet music ; Prince 
Arthur walked abroad listening 
to the conversation of birds and 
animals, storing up knowledge 
which would soon be of infinite 
service to them all ; and the 
little Prince and Princesses from 
el Pais de Leche returned 
home. 

And now came the time when 
Strictum-taskum-trabajo plot- 


74 THE LAND OF NADA. 

ted with the lemon tree, and 
tempted the guardian hawks 
with one hundred dead mice, all 
nicely skinned and ready to 
swallow at a gulp. And they 
sold themselves and agreed to 
do his bidding. On a certain day- 
dainty Dorothy lay peacefully 
slumbering in her cradle, and 
Queen Haywarda, sitting among 
the leafy branches of the genea- 
logical tree, had fallen into a 
light doze. She was dreaming 
of angels, and fancied she heard 
the rustling of their wings ; 
but, alas ! they were not angels 
that so lightly stirred the quiv- 
ering leaves. The wicked 
hawks, ever on the alert, had 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 75 

said to each other only a few 
moments before, Now is our 
time, and what we do must be 
accomplished quickly. ’’ So they 
flew up to the cradle, and perch- 
ing on the edge looked in. 
They almost repented of their 
evil designs when they saw 
the innocent baby and her 
sweet unconscious mother, but 
having agreed to serve Stric- 
tum-taskum-trabajo they car- 
ried out his instructions to 
the letter. Each hawk seized 
an end of the cradle in his 
strong hooked beak, and flying 
up in the air a long distance, 
gradually swooped down to the 
spot where Strictum-taskum 


76 THE LAND OP NADA. 

trabajo dwelt. He was there 
and ready to receive them ; and 
lifting the trapdoor of stone 
sunk into the ground, he let 
down Princess Dorothy into the 
deep, dark hole. It was the 
work of a moment to close the 
door, and then the hawks flew 
back to their gate ; while the 
great swarms of locusts which 
had been crying ‘^Woe ! woe! 
woe 1 ” for many days, now 
suddenly ceased their noisy, 
harrowing croaking and disap- 
peared. 

If Queen Haywarda had 
awakened to a knowledge of 
her sorrow alone, she certainly 
could not have survived the 


THE LAND OF NADA. 77 

grief, but her fairy godmother 
came to visit her, knowing 
what would happen on this 
day, and she stood right by the 
Queen when she roused from 
her refreshing nap in the gen- 
ealogical tree. The fairy god- 
mother’s name was Aunt Hope. 

“ Sweetheart,” she cried softly, 
as the Queen opened her eyes 
and glanced toward the spot 
where the cradle had swung in 
the boughs, “ dainty Dorothy 
is safe and I have a tale to tell 
thee.” 

Queen Haywarda smiled at 
the fairy ; Aunt Hope always 
inspired her with courage, and 
she thought that perhaps Aunt 


78 THE LAND OF NAD A. 

Hope had hidden Dorothy just 
for a joke. 

But Aunt Hope, sitting by her 
side and taking Haywarda’s 
hands, said slowly : 

It will be six months before 
thou can’st see dainty Dorothy 
again. Don’t cry, dearest, and 
I’lltell thee just what to do. One 
of the genii of Nada Land has 
proven a traitor and has hired 
the hawks to carry Dorothy 
away and put her down with 
the underground goblins. But 
don’t worry, dear ; a gentle 
underground maiden is her 
nurse, and at this moment is 
hushing Princess Dorothy in 
her arms and taking the best 


THE LAND OP NADA. 79 

of care of her. This I have 
arranged myself, and I will 
relate how in six months’ time 
we can have Baby Dorothy back 
again. And, dearest, listen ! 
Another joy is in store for thee 
which never could have come 
unless this had happened. 
Prince Trueheart will receive 
his sight this day six months, 
when Dorothy returns ; think of 
that !” 

When Queen Hay warda medi- 
tated upon the boundless delight 
which her only son would feel 
when the beauties of the world 
lay fair and smiling before him, 
she uttered no word of complaint, 
but answered patiently : 


80 THE LAND OF NADA. 

I’ll wait, dear Aunt Hope ; 
six months will soon pass.” 

“Lovely Haywarda,” cried 
Aunt Hope, “ always doing just 
what thou art bid, soon shalt 
thou be rewarded. Trust in me, 
and farewell. But there is one 
condition, dear one, which I for- 
got to mention. Keep a cheerful 
heart, and above all things do 
not agitate Prince Trueheart ; 
he cannot shed tears, and if he 
mourns he will die.” 

“I will do as I am bid,” 
answered Haywarda bravely. 

She gathered up her gown, 
and descending from the tree as 
the fairy vanished, walked to 
where Prince Trueheart stood 


THE LAND OF NADA. 8l 

with his violin, and told him all 
Aunt Hope had said, so quietly 
and cheerfully, and also com- 
municated the news to King 
Whitcomho and the whole 
court with such wisdom that 
there was no sound of mourn- 
ing or distress. 

At this very hour Prince 
Arthur walked abroad, and 
while strolling through the 
woods paused to rest, and seat- 
ing himself upon the ground 
leaned against an oak tree. 

He soon discovered something 
which appeared like an armful 
of sticks placed across a fork in 
the branches above his head. 

Some of the sticks were a foot 
6 


82 THE LAND OF NADA. 

in length, others not more than 
six inches. Arthur’s practiced 
eye saw at a glance that this 
was a hawk’s nest, and present- 
ly he heard two little birds con- 
versing up there. One said : 
“ Have you heard about the 
guardian hawks’ treachery, and 
how they carried Princess Dor- 
othy to Strictum-taskum-traba- 
jo, and he put her underground 
with the goblins ? Yes, and 
another thing I heard some big 
hawks whispering about ; they 
said that one of our race must 
die to atone for this treachery 
and wickedness.” 

‘^Ah! dear brother,” replied 
a low voice, how gladly would 


THE LAND OF NADA. 83 

I be the one to yield up my life 
if I could bring comfort to our 
King and Queen and hand- 
some Prince Trueheart.’^ 

‘‘I don’t see how you could,” 
the other answered, ‘‘because 
the big hawks said that Prince 
Arthur, the naturalist, would 
first have to capture two little 
ones from a nest and spend 
weeks and months in training 
them ; and after that, if, on a cer- 
tain day, six months from now, 
one of these pet hawks should 
thirst, and fly to the golden 
trough where the four-and- 
twenty horses drink, and stoop- 
ing to quench his thirst fall in 
and drown— at that very mo- 


84 THE LAND OF NADA. 

merit the scales would fall from 
Prince Trueheart’s eyes and he 
would receive his sight. ” 

As the little shrill babble of 
their voices ceased, Arthur, the 
naturalist, threw off his coat, 
quickly climbed the tree, and 
taking the pair of downy 
hawks from their nest slid to 
the ground again, and after 
tenderly wrapping them in his 
jacket started for home. He 
always called Nada Land home, 
because he spent so much of his 
time there. 

Now Aunt Hope had confided 
to Haywarda another secret be- 
fore she left, and this was that 
the court of Nada Land must 


THE LAND OF NADA. 85 

raise a certain sum of money in 
order to open the ground where 
the trapdoor lay. In fact, they 
must collect two million dollars 
and hire hundreds of goblin 
servants from all the countries 
around to work with tools and 
open the earth a thousand feet. . 
This being accomplished, the 
underground goblins who had 
been imprisoned for years would 
come trooping up, headed by the 
maiden goblin who cared for 
Dorothy. 

It became a serious problem 
how to raise this money, until 
King Whitcombo suggested : 

Suppose Prince Trueheart and 
I travel to cities in other lands, 


86 THE LAND OF NADA. 

and after reaching there the 
Prince can play before thousands 
of people, and the little beads of 
gold they shed in their tremors 
of delight while listening to 
his Nada Land harmonies will 
amount to sufficient money for 
our needs.” 

So it happened that the next 
day King Whitcombo and his 
son started with a retinue of 
goblin servants upon the four- 
and-twenty horses with en- 
chanted shoes to make the tour 
of these cities, and Prince Arthur, 
the naturalist, and Queen Hay- 
warda were left in Nada Land. 
Prince Arthur fed his hawks, 
watching over them so carefully 


THE LAND OF NADA. 87 

that they became very tame and 
followed him everywhere, cry- 
ing a shrill, lond cry of joy at 
his approach. 

On that day when the red- 
eyed locusts marked with a 
black W upon their wings cried 
‘‘Woe! woe! woe!” for the 
last time, and then, all things 
having been fulfilled, disap- 
peared, it seemed as if every 
animal in Nada Land was pos- 
sessed for a time with an evil 
spirit. 

The four-and-twenty milk- 
white and coal-black horses ran 
violently up and down, refus- 
ing to be caught at the proper 
time. 


88 THE LAND OE NADA. 

Cowslip, Clover, Gillia, But- 
tercup, Seafoam, and Harebell 
acted in the most disagreeable 
and sulky manner. Butter- 
cup, standing stock-still upon 
her see-saw, refused to churn, 
while the little black goblin, 
opening the door of finely-laced 
bones in her side, made naughty 
faces and ran away to play. 
Gillia came from beneath the 
shady oak, and lifting her feet 
from the pleasant coolness of 
the stream, raced up and down 
until the ice-cream melted. 
Cowslip went off and stood in the 
sun and turned her cream sour. 
Clover hied to a wild onion- 
patch she knew about, and ate 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 89 

and ate until her milk became so 
strong that no one could drink 
it. Seafoam began turning 
somersaults over and over until 
she grew so seasick that she 
threw up all the buttermilk. 
And actually Harebell — the 
gentle, the aesthetic — ran away 
from her cluster of bluebells, 
where she always stood, and 
rushing into a drove of razor- 
back hogs which had stolen into 
the enclosure unawares, allowed 
them to drink all her nice skim- 
med milk. 

The rainbow hens, feeling 
very hateful, refused to lay 
a single egg ; and the roosters 
made themselves so obnoxious 


90 THE LAND OF NADA. 

by crowing incessantly that even 
placid Queen Hay warda stopped 
up her ears in despair. 

And Babe, the good-natured 
fat goblin, felt her feelings so 
ruffled that, when poor Prince 
Trueheart strolled over to the 
cabin where she and Ingram 
sat outside in the twilight, and 
with his pathetic face all in a 
tremor of distress, drew the bow 
across the strings of his beloved 
little instrument, Babe called 
out crossly, as she stuck out 
her lips so far that it really 
seemed as if one might almost 
sit on them : 

Go ’way f’om hyah. Prince 
Trueheart, you dun make me 


THE LAND OF NADA. 91 

lost all my ’ligion. I kayn’t 
b’long to no chu’ch long as you 
playin’ dat ole fiddle roun’ hyah ; 
I jes hab to go back an’ git all 
comverted over agin. Go ’way 
f’om byali, Prince Trueheart, 
you dun make ole Babe so corn- 
vexed.” 

And Ingram for once in his 
life forgot to smile, but mut- 
tered savagely to himself : 
‘‘ Dem cows run on dat ah 
pastu’e so much dey jes keep de 
grass nibbled down so’s dat a 
bumble-bee could jes set down 
on dat grass an’ suck all de top 
blossoms off. I reckon dat’s 
what de matter wid dem cows, 
dey do act so savagrous. I jes 


92 THE LAND OF NAD A. 

tell yiih I don’ know what’s 
gwine to come ob dis yere world, 
hit’s gittin’ so fractious.” 

Ingram happened to glance 
up then, and seeing Prince 
Trueheart’s patient face, re- 
lented. 

“Play de Old Crane Hoot, 
honey,” he said, “ an I’ll tell yuh 
bout me an’ de ole yox.” 

Prince Trueheart had been 
feeling desperately lonely all 
day without his baby sister, but 
ever ready to oblige old Ingram 
and Babe, he struck up in 
his liveliest fashion Ole Crane 
Hoot. Ingram and Babe began 
to clap their hands and move 
their feet, and then Ingram, 


THE LAND OF NADA. 


93 


jumping from his seat, cried, as 
he shuffled up and down : 

‘‘ Cose I’se a good Baptist, an’ 
don’ like to go ’gainst de rules 
ob de chu’ch, but dat fiddle 
does soun’ so good I jes hab to 
pad my foot.” 

“Now,” said Prince True- 
heart, as Arthur came to join 
them, “will you tell us about 
you and the ox ? ” 

“When I was down dat ah 
Brinkley Ian’ I was jes as po’ 
as jay-bird in whistlin’ time. 
Laws, honey. Babe used to hole 
dat ah plough in de groun’, an’ I 
usen to pull same’s a ho’se. We 
usen to tend a five-acre groun’ 
jes like a ho’se ; dat was only 


94 THE LAND OF NADA. 

way to make a libbin, lessun I 
had a bill to scratch in de dut 
like a chicken. Babe dun weigh 
two hund’ed and thirty pound, 
honey, fo’ she got dat sore on her 
leg. One day I had sixty-five 
cents at my disposyuh, an’ I jes 
divested hit in a yox, an’ me an’ 
Babe was a ploughin’ de yox, 
an’ he look so kine o’ cur’ous out 
oh dem eyes, I say, ^ Look a- 
hyah, yox, don’ yuh make no 
kine o’ cracks to’d me.’ An’ 
de yox he turnt on me an’ jes 
knocked me down on my knees. 
Good soul ! helooksosavagrous ! 
So I taken a club an’ I clewed 
him up side de head, an’ he 
turnt on me an’ I grabbed a-holt 


THE LAND OF NADA. 95 

on his tail, an’ aroun’ an’ a- 
roun’ me an’ de yox, oh ! what a 
time ! Dat scoun’el, he bellowed 
ail’ hollahed ; an’ Babe, -she was 
stanin’ off an’ she couldn’t do 
nuffin. An’ so ehry time de yox 
turnt his horns to’d me I jes 
pull his tail roun’ de oder way. 
Oh, lands ! I knowed I was 
scart to turn loose ob his tail, 
’cause I knowed he would score 
me to def. I was jes bangin’ 
to dat scoun’el’s tail like a June- 
bug on a grasshopper. When I 
turnt loose to his tail I was 
right ober de fence on de yudder 
side. I jes said to dat yox, ‘ Look 
a-hyah, yox, youse a free yox ; I 
don’ want to hab nuffin mo’ to 


96 THE LAND OF NADA. 


do wid you. I wouldn’t eben 
make beef out ob you, ’cause I 
knowed if I eat that beef I’d 
tink ’bout you in de night, an’ 
I’d jes tink you was cordin’ 
to’d me, an’ dat wouldn’t do, 
’cause it would distu’b Babe’s 
peaceful slumbers.’ Babe, she 
kine o’ cur’ous pusson when she 
sleeps ; she don’ want her rest 
distu’bed.” 

Thus, with Ingram’s stories 
and Prince Trueheart’s music, 
the evening hours pass away, 
and night and darkness steal 
down upon Nada Land. 


THE LAND OF NADA. 97 


PAET III 

It was astonishing how 
quickly King Whitcombo and 
Prince Trueheart accomplished 
their errand. In every city 
where it was announced that a 
young blind musician would 
perform on the violin, people 
flocked in great numbers to 
hear him. He stood up so sim- 
ply before vast audiences with 
his beloved violin, just as if he 
might be playing for Ingram 
and Babe ; and, as the multi- 
tudes listened, it seemed as if 
7 


98 THE LAND OF NADA. 

Prince TruehearPs face shone 
like an angel’s. 

And the music pouring forth 
in such rapturous strains caused 
little drops of gold to trickle 
from the overwrought hearts 
of the throng, in numbers as the 
sand of the sea. In this man- 
ner it came to pass, that within 
three months the court retinue 
returned to Nada Land, their 
goblin servants driving before 
them asses laden with bags of 
gold. 

They began work immediately 
at the place where the trapdoor 
of stone lay, Donburroassikey- 
mulum having ascertained its 
exact position during their 


THE LAND OF NADA. 99 

absence. Now the days fly 
quickly while hundreds of black 
goblins, toiling with pick, shovel, 
and ax, dig down, down, down, 
into the bowels of the earth. 

The fairy godmother issued 
the following proclamation : 

At the exact moment when 
the subjects of King Whitcombo 
and Queen Haywarda shall re- 
move the one-thousandth foot of 
ground, all the imprisoned gob- 
lins will rush forth as a fountain 
of water springing upward from 
an artesian well. Give ear, oh, 
ye Land of Nada, and prepare 
for this event ! ” 

Queen Haywarda, patient and 
cheerful, treasuring within her 


100 THE LAISTD OF NADA. 

heart Aunt Hope’s words, 
seemed just like a bird at this 
time with a whole nestful of 
little ones to look after, for the 
Queen had such a sweet way of 
mothering everything and every- 
body. When she sat down to 
a dessert of fruit, all the hungry 
mouths were opened, and she 
peeled and sliced, putting into 
first this one and then thdt, as 
Trueheart, Arthur, Knee-baby, 
Wimpsy, and Helen crowded 
around. Then, if Haywarda 
stepped out of doors, the gem- 
lustered chickens flew from far 
and near, fiuttering to her feet. 
They lit upon her shoulders and 
arms, while she turned her head 


THE LAND OF NADA. 101 

with a cooing, caressing mur- 
mur like a dove : ‘‘ Chillens, 
pretty chillens, I’m going to 
give you your dinner.” 

So the six months pass and 
great preparations are being 
made in Nada Land. The Kings 
and Queens of el Pais de Leche 
and Alguna Land were invited 
to court, besides many friends 
from that city lying upon the 
borders of el Pais de Carbon. 
Fifty children were to be present 
to celebrate the hour when the 
last foot of ground should be 
broken, and Haywarda, looking 
inward at the calendar which 
was traced by patient waiting 
upon the tablet of her heart, 


102 THE LAND OF NADA. 

found the long-hoped-for day 
would dawn upon the mor- 
row. 

She ran hither and thither, 
flushed and happy, giving orders 
to Ingram and Babe for the 
feast, which was to be spread 
under a grove of noble oaks. 
And the sun, exultantly smiling 
upon the scene on that happy 
morning, heard sounds of gayety 
and laughter coming from the 
land he looked down upon. A 
bank of flowers had been ar- 
ranged for Queen Haywarda’s 
throne ; and a new and larger 
cradle having grown in the 
genealogical tree, the fairies 
were again busily trimming it 


THE LAND OF NADA. 108 

with babies’-breath and tbink-of- 
mes and harebells. 

And now a lull of expectan- 
cy settled down upon the Land 
of Nada. Twelve hours of the 
day had already passed when 
one of Prince Arthur’s pet 
hawks exclaimed : 

‘‘ Brother, I feel a terrible 
thirst oppress me, and I must 
fly to the golden trough where 
the four-and-twenty horses with 
enchanted shoes are standing, 
and drink of its clear, cool 
water. Come with me, brother, 
I feel so strangely sad ; and, 
dear one, I think the time has 
come in which one of our race 
must die to atone for the treach- 


104 THE LAND OF NAD A. 

ery of those guardian hawks. 
Haste, brother, I must go. Hark, 
dearest, I hear that same band 
of angels singing who filled the 
air with melody on the night of 
our Princess Dorothy’s birth. 
Do you hear them, brother ? ” 
she asked wistfully, as they lit 
upon the golden trough. 

The four-and-twenty horses, 
lifting their heads, started sud- 
denly back in alarm, for the 
little hawk’s feathers shone 
with such a bright light that 
their eyes were dazzled. As 
she stooped her head to drink, 
and gave one last farewell 
glance at her loving companion, 
the little hawk committed her 


THE LAND OF NADA. 105 

body as gently to rest upon the 
clear, crystal water as if it were 
a soft nest in the tree-tops, and 
sinking down, down, down, lay 
at the bottom still and lifeless, 
while the brother’s tears min- 
gled with the rippled surface 
of the sorrowing, weeping 
stream. 

Hark ! hark ! Angels are 
singing again around the abode 
of Queen Haywarda and King 
Whitcombo, the flowers are 
standing on tiptoe, holding up 
their little heads. Queen Hay- 
warda, seated upon her throne 
of flowers, with Prince True- 
heart and King Whitcombo 
standing near, and the visitors 


106 THE LAND OF NADA. 

grouped beneath the grove of 
oaks, the black goblin servants 
forming a dark background, 
gazes in wonder at a numberless 
throng of goblins who are flock- 
ing toward them, headed by a 
dusky maiden, the dark shower 
of her hair falling to the ground, 
as she bears in her arms the 
baby Princess, grown fairer than 
ever, with her infant face 
wreathed in smiles. The dusky 
maiden, kneeling at Haywarda’s 
feet, places Dorothy in her lap, 
while the liberated goblins dance 
the Kickapoo high-step through 
shadowy groves. 

In that blissful moment, the 
still, deep waters of Haywarda’s 


THE LAND OF NAD A. 107 

heart gush upward in happy 
tears, and clasping Dorothy to 
her heart, she looks up in faith 
and trust, to see Prince True- 
heart gazing at her with wide- 
open, wondering eyes all aglow 
with sight. 

While the silence of profound 
joy still rested upon the scene. 
Aunt Hope suddenly appeared in 
their midst : 

‘^Come, children, come,’’ she 
cried gayly ; and taking Prince 
Trueheart’s arm, and followed 
by the fifty little guests, besides 
Princesses Wimpsy and Helen, 
Prince Knee-baby and Prince 
Arthur, they form themselves 
in two long lines opposite each 


108 THE LAND OF NADA. 

other, and begin a fairy dance 
taught them by Aunt Hope. 

It was the prettiest dreamy 
sight, like a vision of the night. 
Princess Helen looked like a 
fairy herself ; her long yellow 
hair streamed down over a 
lavender gown fashioned with 
short puffed sleeves, the neck cut 
square in front and back, and 
edged with a band of lace. The 
soft curves of the baby throat 
gleamed white in the outdoor 
light, and her bare feet kissed 
the green sward as she tripped 
lightly to and fro. Prince 
Knee-baby’s white satin slip 
came to the knee ; over this fell 
a long blue-silk coat almost 


THE LAND OF NADA. 109 

touching the ground, but, open- 
ing in front, parted on either 
side to disclose the sturdy bare 
legs and dimpled knees. His 
short black hair danced up and 
down with many a curl to 
the music, and his ringing 
laughter bubbled from the gay- 
est of innocent little hearts. 
Princess Wimpsy’s pale rose- 
pink frock set off her brilliant 
red cheeks and flashing black 
eyes ; and her graceful bare 
feet fairly twinkled out and 
in through the mazes of the 
dance. Prince Trueheart and 
Prince Arthur wore velvet 
knickerbockers, and, as they were 
older, silken hose and pointed 


110 THE LAND OF NADA. 

slippers encased their well- 
shaped limbs and feet. Their 
long, soft hair fell in waves over 
the shoulders. The fifty children 
guests were dressed by the fairies 
for the occasion, and, as it was 
the custom in Nada Land for chil- 
dren to wear low neck and short 
sleeves, and go without shoes or 
stockings, the effect of so much 
hearty beauty, displayed with 
such artless grace, was singu- 
larly refreshing and delightful. 

It had been decided upon this 
happy occasion, to celebrate the 
betrothals of Princess Dorothy 
and Prince Knee-baby, Princess 
Wimpsy and Prince Arthur, and 
Princess Helen and Prince True- 


THE LAND OF NADA. Ill 

heart, thus uniting the lands of 
Nada, el Pais de Leche, and the 
Alguna country. 

After the gay dance had 
•woven itself into the happi- 
ness of the hour, Aunt Hope 
brought the children to where 
the Queen-Mother, still seated 
upon the bank of flowers, held 
dainty Dorothy in a warm em- 
brace. Queen Haywarda never 
looked prettier. The fairies had 
- scattered daintiest columbine 
over her white robe and silken 
scarf, which glanced down the 
fall of her bright hair and 
draped her face. Aunt Hope 
took a small ivory box orna- 
mented with diamonds from 


112 THE LAND OF NADA. 

an embroidered bag hanging on 
her arm, and, opening it, dis- 
closed six little rings. She 
brought Prince Knee-baby up 
to wee Dorothy, and, placing 
within his chubby palm a tiny 
gold ring, formed into a love- 
knot of think-of-mes, bade him 
slip it upon Dorothy’s finger. 
This he did smiling brightly 
as he kissed her rosy lips. 
Then Aunt Hope, taking Prin- 
cess Dorothy’s hand in hers, 
made her place a similar ring 
upon Prince Knee-baby’s finger. 
Trueheart and Helen gravely 
went through their betrothals 
in the most dignified manner, 
as also Arthur and Wimpsy. 


THE LAND OF NADA. 113 

After the ceremony was 
completed, the crow, with his 
spectacles, high .collar, and 
black cravat, who was perched 
in a tree with an open 
book before him, recorded the 
whole transaction. The two fat 
puppies. Biscuit and Ivy, ca- 
pered and barked around ; the 
possum and her eight young 
ones hung from a branch by their 
nine tails and grinned at every- 
body ; the mocking-birds trilled 
sweetest melody. Donburroas- 
sikeymulum roared with de- 
light and kicked out his eight 
feet with hoofs. The jar burst 
into a thousand fragments and 
united again. The brilliant 


114 THE LAND OF NADA. 

fowls came marching in full-dress 
parade ; the cows raised their 
heads in gentle wonder ; the 
horses tossed their manes and 
snorted with delight. At this 
moment the excitedly happy as- 
semblage, looking upward, be- 
held Strictum-taskum-trabajo, 
the treacherous one, with his 
two bad hawks, flying far away, 
a mere speck in the cloudless 
heavens, travelling toward that 
lonely island in the Paciflc 
Ocean, where they now dwell, 
and are condemned to spend 
their time in tears and repent- 
ant sighs. Now they are a 
mere dot upon the horizon, and 
a faint, sweet song comes float- 


THE LAND OF NADA. 115 

iiig from the meadow where the 
flowers are standing on tiptoe, 
craning their little necks to see 
everything : 

Hand in liand through life’s long way, 
May these children, day by day. 

Walk in harmony and love. 

While the clouds which float above. 
Dropping showers and soft dews. 
Shining with bright sunset hues. 

Lying close in hazy mists, 

With wreathing, curling, circling twists. 
Throw silver linings o’er their cares. 
And shed sweet comfort unawares. 

So may we flowers rejoice their sight. 

As seasons roll with fresh delight. 
Wafting fragrance year by year. 

Until the mystic time draws near. 

When Nada Land, so sweet and fair. 
For every loving, bonny pair. 

Will deck herself in bright array 
To celebrate their nuptial day. 


THE END. 



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